Clearly, that great span of time indicates that Gabriel was obsessive in crafting the album, and Us bears the sound of endless hours in the studio. It's not just that the production is pristine, clean, and immaculate, it's that the music is, with only a handful of exceptions (namely, the "Sledgehammer" rewrite "Steam" and the fellatio ode "Kiss That Frog"), remarkably subtle and shaded.

The cuts that truly matter on LAX aren't the ones where the rapper's hardcore, unswayable definition of loyalty comes into play but the ones that go outside the usual topics and explore both the profound (the African-American struggle) and, more surprisingly, the profane (rump shaking).

With names like 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, and Chris Brown on the guest list, Game's 2012 effort Jesus Piece was feared to be a combination cash-in and kiss-off to his contract with the Interscope label, at least by those who always looked to the West Coast rapper to keep it real and entirely underground.

Signing with a major label doesn’t mean you have to grow up, and All Time Low fly their juvenile flag high on Dirty Work, the band’s first album with Interscope Records. “Everybody gettin’ kind crunk/I think some dude just grabbed my junk,” Alex Gaskarth sings in “I Feel Like Dancin’,” a party anthem co-written by Rivers Cuomo and performed with the cheeky, half-serious swagger of “Beverly Hills.”.

Hard Candy is the sound of a band at a creative and poetic summit. Over three previous studio recordings, Counting Crows had moved through varied musical territories as a way of conveying emotion through performance, texture, and nuance, the place where the mood meets the heart meets the mind.

Black Grape - In the Name of the Father. Black Grape - Reverend Black Grape. Black Grape - Yeah Yeah Brother. Ryder's lyrics have always been freewheelingly impenetrable, but now he's working with Kermit, a rapper that is the equal of his skills.

Garrison Starr was only 22 when she released her major-label debut, Eighteen Over Me. Even quieter songs like "Clearer" and "Eighteen Over Me" receive the foghorn treatment. Dennis Herring's production also has a tendency toward overkill, sometimes employing excess buzz in an apparent attempt to cover up Starr's weaker songwriting efforts.

Working once again with producer Jude Cole, Lifehouse finally achieve a semblance of maturity on 2012's Almería, the band's sixth album. The difference is this: the band is settling into its maturity, no longer feeling the need to create muscular, mordant modern rock anthems.

The Family Values Tour 1999 collects live performances from Korn and their accomplices from the middle leg of their 1999 Family Values tour. Method Man & Redman's "Da Rockwilder/Tear It Off," the Crystal Method's "Keep Hope Alive," Filter's "Jurassitol," and Primus' "My Name Is Mud" are some of the album's most dynamic performances, while Korn's "A.D.I.D.A.S./Good God" and Staind's duet with Fred Durst, "Outside," set the tone for this aggro celebration of rap, metal, and rap-metal.

Ryder's lyrics have always been freewheelingly impenetrable, but now he's working with Kermit, a rapper that is the equal of his skills. Even better, the music has deep grooves and catchy pop hooks that come straight out of left field.

Clearly, that great span of time indicates that Gabriel was obsessive in crafting the album, and Us bears the sound of endless hours in the studio. It's not just that the production is pristine, clean, and immaculate, it's that the music is, with only a handful of exceptions (namely, the "Sledgehammer" rewrite "Steam" and the fellatio ode "Kiss That Frog"), remarkably subtle and shaded.

The cuts that truly matter on LAX aren't the ones where the rapper's hardcore, unswayable definition of loyalty comes into play but the ones that go outside the usual topics and explore both the profound (the African-American struggle) and, more surprisingly, the profane (rump shaking).

With names like 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, and Chris Brown on the guest list, Game's 2012 effort Jesus Piece was feared to be a combination cash-in and kiss-off to his contract with the Interscope label, at least by those who always looked to the West Coast rapper to keep it real and entirely underground.

Garrison Starr was only 22 when she released her major-label debut, Eighteen Over Me. Even quieter songs like "Clearer" and "Eighteen Over Me" receive the foghorn treatment. Dennis Herring's production also has a tendency toward overkill, sometimes employing excess buzz in an apparent attempt to cover up Starr's weaker songwriting efforts.

Hard Candy is the sound of a band at a creative and poetic summit. Over three previous studio recordings, Counting Crows have moved through varied musical territories as a way of conveying emotion through performance, texture, and nuance, the place where the mood meets the heart meets the mind.

Signing with a major label doesn’t mean you have to grow up, and All Time Low fly their juvenile flag high on Dirty Work, the band’s first album with Interscope Records. “Everybody gettin’ kind crunk/I think some dude just grabbed my junk,” Alex Gaskarth sings in “I Feel Like Dancin’,” a party anthem co-written by Rivers Cuomo and performed with the cheeky, half-serious swagger of “Beverly Hills.”.

Working once again with producer Jude Cole, Lifehouse finally achieve a semblance of maturity on 2012's Almería, the band's sixth album. The difference is this: the band is settling into its maturity, no longer feeling the need to create muscular, mordant modern rock anthems.

The Family Values Tour 1999 collects live performances from Korn and their accomplices from the middle leg of their 1999 Family Values tour. Method Man & Redman's "Da Rockwilder/Tear It Off," the Crystal Method's "Keep Hope Alive," Filter's "Jurassitol," and Primus' "My Name Is Mud" are some of the album's most dynamic performances, while Korn's "A.D.I.D.A.S./Good God" and Staind's duet with Fred Durst, "Outside," set the tone for this aggro celebration of rap, metal, and rap-metal.